


Full Moon Fever

by Cloudiana



Series: Full Moon Fever [2]
Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Adora (She-Ra) Needs a Hug, Alternate Universe - Adora Remains with the Horde (She-Ra), Alternate Universe - Catra is She-Ra, Alternate Universe - Werewolf, F/F, Magicatra AU, One Shot, Werewolf Adora
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-28
Updated: 2020-11-28
Packaged: 2021-03-10 04:28:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,894
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27758431
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cloudiana/pseuds/Cloudiana
Summary: As the Rebellion searches the Whispering Woods for the Beast of the Horde, allegedly wounded by She-Ra during her escape from the Fright Zone, Catra goes looking for her former friend.Or, what happen when you look at this art from Kace https://artofkace.tumblr.com/post/626654315937972224/werewolf-adora-protecting-magicat-catra-for-a, misread the description as “Werewolf Adora protects Magicatra. AU Crossover??” And decide to take that as a prompt.
Relationships: Adora/Catra (She-Ra)
Series: Full Moon Fever [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2045827
Comments: 20
Kudos: 213





	Full Moon Fever

Over the last few years, a story had spread across Etheria: the Beast of the Horde. A great golden werewolf that terrorized the Rebellion. Its howls presaged Horde attacks. Villages made sure their children were indoors long before sundown. Rebellion patrols were lucky to escape with their lives.  
  
Some said the Beast had a special interest in the newly returned She-Ra, the lost Princess of Halfmoon. It had a knack for bursting out of the brush at just the right moment to catch her in an ambush.  
  
Whatever the truth of these stories, the Horde slept better at night, and the Rebellion learned to fear the Whispering Woods.  
  
Which was why it was so strange to find dozens of Rebellion patrols combing through the woods that morning. If you asked them though, they would have excitedly told you that they didn’t fear the Beast — they were hunting it. They wouldn’t know the full details of the story. Just that the Beast was wounded last night pursuing She-Ra and the princesses as they escaped the Fright Zone, and that this was their chance to rid the Whispering Woods of the monster once and for all.  
  
Honestly, you would have gotten a more information if you had run into Madame Razz. She would have gone on about how Mara was finally coming back to see Cyra, but at least she would have shown you where to find the best blueberries.  
  
The person in the woods that day with the most information wouldn’t have shared it with you. That’s why Catra insisted on being a party of one, even over the objections of the Best Friends Squad. She went into the woods with nothing but her wits, a duffle bag, and a magical sword that transformed her into an eight-foot tall, mythical warrior cat-goddess. The last one really helped convince everyone to let her go alone.  
  
After she returned to the clearing where she last saw her friend, It was easy to follow the trail of bloody paw prints through the undergrowth. One of the perks of being She-Ra, Catra had discovered was having the Whispering Woods on her side. Unfortunately, that meant it wasn’t long before she found the ruins.  
  
In theory, the paw prints (by now fully footprints) were easier to follow. The fresh blood stood out like a neon trail, winding through the open grass and broken, mossy cobblestone. But it was much harder for Catra to push herself to follow them to the half-crumbled tower in the center of town, because she knew who was at the end of that trail.  
  
The lone, cursed survivor of the attack that leveled this town -- a werewolf attack, the Horde claimed, that the Rebellion ordered. It was a lie, Catra had learned. The Rebellion and the Packs weren't exactly enemies, but they were never allies. Seemingly, no one in the Rebellion had even heard of the town before it fell. But no matter how many times she yelled the truth across the battlefield, the survivor never listened.  
  
But she had saved her last night. In spite of everything that had happened between them, she had saved her.  
  
So maybe, just maybe, she hoped against all reason, she would believe her this time. Maybe she wouldn’t go back to Brightmoon alone. It was a slim hope, but she couldn’t find the strength to crush it.  
  
The fight she had with the girl she found on the roof of the ruin would have to do that for her.

* * *

  
  
Adora stayed seated for most of the conversation, hugging her knees close to her chest. Catra sat on the opposite end of the roof next to the stairs, blocking her escape, but matching her height. That always made her feel comfortable when they talked before . . . all this. Her nervous hands played with the fringes of her torn uniform, but she was still defensive. After the usual lines of argument went nowhere, Adora blew up.  
  
“So,” the wolf growled, bearing her fangs. “I go with you and what? Get a new cage?” Her hand instinctively went to the red scar ringing her neck.  
  
Catra shook her head. “I’m not gonna let them do that to you, Adora." _Not again._  
  
“Then, what?” The wolf snapped back. “I become the Beast of Brightmoon? Loyal hound to princesses?”  
  
It was Catra’s turn to growl. “Or you could become . . . I don’t know, yourself for once? What do you want?”  
  
Adora opened her mouth to speak, but the princess cut her off. “Don’t tell me what the Horde wants, or what Shadow Weaver wants, or any of that ‘bringing order to Etheria’ crap that we both know you don’t believe.” She took a breath to keep her voice steady. “What do you want, Adora?”  
  
The soldier looked like a deer in skiff headlights for a second. She turned her eyes towards the ruins below— the fragments of the life stolen from her. A town she had forgotten the name of. Broken, burned bits of rubble littered the forest floor. Claw marks and blaster burns marred the remaining walls in equal measure.  
  
Her eyes hardened with resolve. “I want to protect people,” she said quietly. “I want to stop what happened to me from happening to anyone else ever again. I want yo—“ her eyes briefly met Catra’s before turning away, “I want to keep you safe . . .” Her voice dropped to a whisper, “and I know I never did any of that in the Horde.”  
  
For a few seconds, Catra dared hope that this was it. This was the moment Adora would take her hand and follow her - give her the chance to keep that promise they made years ago, after that first full moon. Instead, she watched her old friends’ bloody fist clench and tremble with rage and resignation. They were still torn from when she ripped her way through ten miles of rusted, Fright Zone concrete and metal last night in a full moon fever. The same escape that left her with electrical burns under her ragged uniform.  
  
The same escape that meant she could never return to the Horde, because of who she escaped to save from the shadow beasts.  
  
  
“But I know what I saw that night. I know that it wasn’t just the Horde that attacked us.” The former Force Captain shakily pushed herself to her feet. “I will never serve the people who cursed me and left me for dead - who slaughtered my family and took everything from me.” Her voice was hard and cold. When she looked at Catra again though, her eyes glistened just the slightest bit. “So, _She-Ra_ ,” she said almost spitting the title, “you’re going back to Brightmoon alone.”  
  
She raised her fists defensively as Catra stood up to face her. She expected an attack, to either be dragged to a new cage in Brightmoon or put down like a rabid dog- a fate she had been threatened with many times. It wouldn’t be too bad, she rationalized. At least she wouldn’t be able to hurt anyone anymore. At least Catra would be free of her. Adora hoped Catra wouldn’t have the heart for the job, but the magic that possessed her would probably let her finally—  
  
“Ok,” Catra said with a shrug. That response stopped Adora’s spiraling. Before she struggle past the sudden lump in her throat, Catra reached into her bag and threw something at her. It took another second for her brain to process what it was - a bright red, flannel shirt.  
  
“Civvy clothes,” she explained. “Trust me, people don’t respond well to Horde uniforms around here.” She chuckled at her own joke and slid the bag across the floor to Adora’s feet. “Whole new outfit in there. Boots, suspenders, cargo pants, jacket, bandana in case you need to hide your—” Catra tapped her claws against her own fangs to illustrate what she meant. “People won’t be weird about them out here like they were in the Horde, but I thought it might make you more comfortable to have the option. And hey, can’t be too safe in flu season.”  
  
“Plus some cash,” she continued. “I figure even if ‘loner in the woods’ is going to be your new identity you’ll need to go into towns sometimes for supplies, especially once winter gets going.”  
  
Adora stood still gaping for what felt like forever. Finally, she got over the shock long enough to speak. “Y-you,” she crossed her arms in confusion. “You‘re letting me go? Why?”  
  
Catra smiled. A mix of regret and pride in her eyes. “Because you’re right.” She gestured with the sword while speaking. “Not about much, but about this. About what you need.” She paused, lowered her guard, left herself vulnerable and open. Her friend needed to hear this and believe it. “You belong somewhere you feel _free_. The last thing you need is someone else telling you what to do, Adora.”  
  
She still looked confused. “You had this stuff ready? You knew I’d say no? And . . . ” The words caught in her throat. She couldn’t bring herself to say the rest: _‘and you still came to help me.’_  
  
Catra rolled her eyes. “Actually,” she lied, “I just thought it would be easier to sneak you back into the palace with the Horde wings off and a mask on. You earned quite the reputation in the last year.”  
  
She immediately regretted the remark, and expected the now ex-solider to flinch at that. To fall back into guilt and self-loathing. Instead, the ghost of a smile crossed her lips and she arched a single eyebrow, like Catra had just suggested they play a particularly dangerous and risky prank back in the barracks.  
  
“And I guess the cash was to bribe the palace guards?” She looked through the rest of the bags contents. “And the maps, and the blanket, and the pocket knife, and the fire starter” she had to pause to keep her breath from hitching “. . . Yep all just normal stuff for you to be carrying around.”  
  
“Hey,” Catra retorted. “She-ra or not, I still start fires when I feel like it.“  
  
Adora laughed, and for a second they were kids again, sharing a joke. They savored the moment for as long as they could.  
  
But it couldn’t last forever. They knew that.  
  
Catra left first. Adora told her that she wasn’t going to stay in the ruins. “Too many ghosts.” Where she would settle was anyone's guess.

When Catra got back to Brightmoon, she just reported finding no sign of the Beast, just like the rest of the hunting parties. Glimmer and Bow noticed the missing bag, but saved their questions for the inevitable Best Friends Squad sleepover/debrief.

* * *

  
  
Over the next few moons, the hunts for the Beast of the Horde become sporadic, then stopped. A new story spread across Etheria: The Lone Wolf of the Whispering Woods. Her howls rang out on the wind to warn of Horde attacks. Children lost at night were escorted back to their villages unharmed. Raiding parties were lucky to escape with their lives.  
  
Some said the Lone Wolf had a special interest in She-Ra, and a knack for knowing just when to burst out of tangle to save her from a Horde ambush.  
  
Whatever the truth of these rumors, the Horde learned to fear the Whispering Woods, and the Rebellion slept better at night.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading. I hope you enjoyed this one-shot. If you did, please leave a kudos or comment.
> 
> I’m going to be honest, this idea just gripped my brain and refused to let go. On one hand, I was interested in the idea of Adora fighting for the Horde out of a personal grudge against the Rebellion and a desire for justice instead of fascisty “order and strength” guff. Also, loner-vigilante-werewolf-Adora? That concept is just crying out to be realized . . . right?
> 
> I’d love feedback. Specifically, I want to know if the story flowed well. Did the dialogue seem natural and in-character(relatively speaking)? Was it fun to read? I’ll also be happy to answer any questions about how this AU works. i just might come back to it. Here’s a taste- “Scorpia initially called Adora “Big Dog” but saw that made her uncomfortable and spent the rest of their time together throwing out non-canine related nicknames and hoping she would like one. Adora really appreciated it.”
> 
> Thanks again for reading this (and getting through this notes section). It feels good to make people happy this hell-year.
> 
> PS- props to anyone who can spot the Tom Petty references
> 
> ***EDIT: 100 kudos?!?!?!? THANK YOU! Um, AwooooOOOOOooooooo!***


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